Tag: employment and labor

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Increasing Medical Compensation for Employees

Currently, but soon will be modified, if an employee gets injured or becomes ill during/because of the work, the employer is responsible to pay the actual compensation with a capped amount for an employee to have proper and necessary medical treatment.  

The cabinet has recently approved a draft ministerial regulation regarding the medical expenses rates to be paid by employer proposed by the Ministry of Labor.  The draft ministerial regulation is for increasing medical compensation to be in line with changing of economic and social conditions and to help employees access increased medical benefits. It will reduce the trouble and cost burden for employees.  

crop cheerful multiethnic colleagues celebrating victory in office

The draft ministerial regulation requires employers to increase the rate of healthcare expenses covered by social security from the previous amount of 50,000 baht to 65,000 baht. Furthermore, there are adjustments made to the conditions of the injuries to receive compensation with the maximum amount payable by the employer not exceeding 100,000 baht, from severe head injuries and requiring craniotomy to severe head injuries suffered by employees. This draft ministerial regulation also covers patients with trauma until birth state of unconsciousness or paralysis with high expenses which can be qualified according to this ministerial regulation, such as injuries with the following characteristics or treatment.

  1. Severe injury to the head causing inability to perform daily activities normally for more than 20 days.
  2. In case of severe head injury but may not require surgery or may not be able to do surgery, such as a skull fracture that causes bleeding in the brain.
  3. In case of fall from a height causing multiple broken ribs, a small amount of blood in the chest, slight shortness of breath and/or non-surgical with cerebral hemorrhage but without surgery staying in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) for 3 nights with abdominal bleeding and no surgery needed.

Author: Panisa Suwanmatajarn, Managing Partner.

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A New Labor Law Established the Rights and Obligations to Work-From-Home

As we are all aware that the working routines of people nowadays have shifted to a new normal of work-from-home arrangements, rendering the Thai Labor Protection Act B.E 2541 (1998) incompatible with how people work today. As a result, on 19 March 2023, the Labor Protection Act (No. 8) B.E. 2566 (2023) (“Act”) was announced in the royal gazette, amending thelabor law, and will be enforced within 30 days from the announcement dates, which will be effective on April 18, 2023, with the objective of being in line with today’s working lifestyle.

Section 23/1 has been added to the Act and it contains 4 significant clauses as follows:

  1. For the benefits of the employer’s business operation and the promotion of employees’ quality of life and work, the employees can work at home, at residence, or anywhere outside the employer’s office conveniently by using information technology or IT.
  2. In order to work remotely, the employer and employee may execute a written or electronic agreement that may include the following clauses:
    1. The term of the agreement;
    2. The working days, normal working hours, and overtimes;
    3. The rules governing overtimes, holiday, working days and types of leave;
    4. Scope of work and the employer’s supervision; and
    5. Obligations of the employer to provide the necessary working tools or equipment and expenses in relation to the performance of the work.
  3. Unless they have given prior written consent, employees have the right to refuse all forms of communication from their employer or supervisor after a working hour or the end of work as assigned by the employer. This Right to Disconnect follows EU legislation beginning with France in 2017 and spreading to Spain, Ireland, and Italy by the end of 2021.
  4. Employees who work remotely have the same rights as those who work at the office, which means that employers cannot change or reduce benefits if employees do not agree to it.

In conclusion, this Act will not only improve employees’ quality of life and work but will also assist in the resolution of traffic issues and the reduction of energy and fuel consumption. All employees who work remotely should be aware of this Act in order to understand their current rights and responsibilities. The employers should also consider drafting work-from-home agreements with the said employees. Please note that there is no provision regarding the penalty for non-compliance with this Section 23/1 because the government currently intends to support work-from-home policies.

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Visa Extension for Foreign Workers

The cabinet has recently approved the guideline for managing foreign working after February 13th, 2023, as proposed by the Ministry of Labor in collaboration with the Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Public health, Royal Thai Police, and Department of Provincial Administration. The guideline below will be applied to foreign workers whose work permits expire on or before February 13th, 2023, by allowing the following foreigners to stay in Thailand as a special case until May 15th, 2023.

1. Foreigners who have completed and submitted an application for a renewal of their work permit and paid for the application fee and renewal work permit fee within February 13th, 2023  and that 1.) those foreigners were granted a visa or permitted to temporarily stay in Thailand until February 13th, 2023 but have not yet applied for a temporary stay in Thailand until 2024 or 2025 or have a gradually expired passport since February 14th, 2023 onwards or 2.) those foreigners who were granted a visa or permitted to temporarily stay in Thailand until February 13th, 2023 and have been granted to stay temporarily in Thailand until 2024 or 2025 or have a passport expired from February 14th, 2023 onwards.

According to the Notification of the Ministry of Labor issued by virtue of Section 14 of the Royal Ordinance on the Management of Foreign Workers Employment B.E. 2560 (2017) and its amendments, foreigners as mentioned above in Item 1 will be allowed to work in Thailand until February 13th, 2024, or 2025 as the right is granted.

women in sitting on floor rug

2. Foreigners, who have incompleted but  submitted an application for a renewal of their work permit and paid the application fee within February 13th, 2023 under the circumstances of 1.)  those foreigners do not have a passport or document in lieu of a passport, 2.) those foreigners who have a passport or document in lieu of passport but fail to extend their visa or 3.) those foreigners whose status is not legal but whose employers have applied for their work permits on their behalf and have already paid the fee in the process of biometrics collection prohibited disease diagnosis, will be granted temporary visas until May 15th, 2023. In case they wish to continue working in Thailand, they will be granted temporary visas and work permits until February 13th, 2024 or February 13th, 2025 as the case may be.

3.  Those foreigners, who have passports or documents in lieu of passports and have been granted visas or have permission to temporarily stay in Thailand but passports or documents in lieu of passports expired before February 13th, 2023, will be allowed to temporarily stay and work until February 13th, 2024, or February 13th, 2025, as the case may be.

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On 18 May 2021, the Cabinet approved in principle for the Draft Ministerial Regulation on Social Security Fund Contribution Rates  B.E. …. (“Draft Ministerial Regulation”) proposed by the Ministry of Labour in order to alleviate challenges faced by the insured employees and employers affected following the spread of COVID-19. The Draft Ministerial Regulation will be referred to the Council of State for further considerations. 

man in black suit sitting on chair beside buildings

Summaries of the Draft Ministerial Regulation are as follow:

  1. The Draft Ministerial Regulation will repeal the Ministerial Regulation on  Social Security Fund Contribution Rates B.E. 2563 (2020) and the Ministerial Regulation on  Social Security Fund Contribution Rates  (No. 2) B.E. 2564 (2021).
  2. The Draft Ministerial Regulation will set the new rates of contribution to the social security fund which will be in force for 3 months starting from 1 June 2021 to 31 August 2021. The new rates are to be specified as follow:
    • The employers and the insured employees under Section 33 of the Social Security Act B.E. 2533 (1990) will contribute to the social security fund at the rate of 2.5% of the insured employees’ wages. The government’s contribution will remain at the rate of 2.75% of the insured employees’ wages.
    • The contribution for compensation fund related to injury, sickness, disability, death and childbirth will be at the rate of 1% of the insured employees’ wage for insured employees, employers and government.
    • For contribution for benefits to children of the insured employees and old age pension, the contribution rate of the employers and insured employees under Section 33 will be at the rate of 1.25% of the insured employees’ wage; the government’s contribution rate will be at 1.5% of the insured employees’ wage.
    • The contribution for the unemployment fund will be at 0.25% of the insured employees’ wage applied to all insured employees, employers and the government.
  3. From 1st September 2021, the contribution rate will be revised to the new rates as follows:
    • The contribution for compensation fund related to injury, sickness, disability, death and childbirth will be at the rate of 1.5% of the insured employees’ wage for all insured employees, employers and government.
    • For contribution for benefits to children of the insured employees and old age pension, the contribution rate of the employers and insured employees under Section 33 will be at the rate of 3% of the insured employees’ wage; the government’s contribution rate will be at 1% of the insured employees’ wage.
    • The contribution for the unemployment fund will be at 0.5% of the insured employees’ wage applied to all insured employees and employers and the government’s contribution will be at the rate of 0.25%

This Draft Ministerial Regulation is expected to be enacted and become enforced shortly.